I am considering the use of steroids to combat my wasting. Could it be, however, that in some cases wasting that is due to the body's loss of ability to symthesize muscle growth or protein absorption would not be helped my steroid use?

Response from Ms. Fields-Gardner

Wasting is not usually a single-faceted problem. Many things can lead to wasting and it is probably best to find out what is leading to wasting and how wasted you really are to determine the best course of action. For instance, if you are simply not eating enough and have not lost a significant amount of weight (by significant I mean about 10% of your baseline weight in a 12 month period), then strategies to improve your calorie and protein intake are appropriate. If, however, you have lost a significant amount of weight things change and the need to regain will be more urgent. Testosterone replacement should be considered and other more temporary and intermittent courses of anabolic strategies may speed up the process.

By steroids I will assume that you mean testosterone in this case. You have mentioned two very different issues in your question.

First, the inability to synthesize protein (muscle in this case) is more of an internal problem such as liver or other organ dysfunction. If this is the case then it is important to address and consider that issue before adding testosterone into the mix.

Second there is the ability to absorb protein from the gut. If you decide to use testosterone as a replacement therapy or as an anabolic, you will need to make sure that you can consume and absorb an adequate amount of both calories and protein. To investigate this problem, have your current dietary intake checked to see if wasting is because you are not getting enough food in.

In addition to getting enough calories and protein in to support testosterone and anabolic therapies, you will also want to make sure you can get into some type of exercise to optimize your body's use of these sex hormones. For this you may want to call on physical therapy or other appropriate professional service to design a productive program for your recovery.

This forum is designed for educational purposes only, and experts are not rendering medical, mental health, legal or other professional advice or services. If you have or suspect you may have a medical, mental health, legal or other problem that requires advice, consult your own caregiver, attorney or other qualified professional.

Experts appearing on this page are independent and are solely responsible for editing and fact-checking their material. Neither TheBody.com nor any advertiser is the publisher or speaker of posted visitors' questions or the experts' material.

The Body is a service of Remedy Health Media, LLC, 750 3rd Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10017. The Body and its logos are trademarks of Remedy Health Media, LLC, and its subsidiaries, which owns the copyright of The Body's homepage, topic pages, page designs and HTML code. General Disclaimer: The Body is designed for educational purposes only and is not engaged in rendering medical advice or professional services. The information provided through The Body should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or a disease. It is not a substitute for professional care. If you have or suspect you may have a health problem, consult your health care provider.